1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of cooking appliances and, more particularly, to a menu driven electronic interface system used in controlling the operation of a cooking appliance.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Cooking appliances have evolved in the fairly recent past to incorporate electronic controls. In fact, many ovens, ranges and the like available on the market today incorporate, to certain degrees, programmable features intended to aid a consumer in performing cooking operations. Actually, most electronic control systems for cooking appliances only enable a consumer to input certain cooking information, such as cooking modes, times and temperatures, with the inputted information generally being presented in a viewable display area and used to establish a cooking operation.
With the introduction of the microwave oven, additional electronic programming features became available. For instance, some microwave ovens available in the marketplace provide for the user input of a desired cooking or defrosting operation which can be carried out based on information concerning the category of food, e.g., meats, leftovers, canned goods, frozen dinners etc. When cooking meat in such known appliances, the approximate weight of the meat is also a common input parameter. With this information, the appliance performs a programmed cooking operation.
In any event, there have been developments in the art of cooking appliances directed to aiding a consumer in performing certain cooking operations effectively. However, there still exists a need for a more user friendly system for controlling the operation of a cooking appliance. More specifically, there exists a need for an electronic control system which functions to prompt a user, as needed, to input certain cooking information in a convenient and clear manner, and then automatically controls the cooking appliance to perform the desired operation. Furthermore, there is a need for an electronic cooking appliance control system which can itself be programmed to perform various operations in a desired manner, such as following a personal recipe stored in the system by the user.
The present invention pertains to a system for programming and operating a cooking appliance, preferably a cooking appliance which calculates a desired percentage of hot air convection and microwave energy need to perform a cooking operation in an efficient manner, based on selections made by a user. Most preferably, a menu driven display, such as a touch screen, is used to prompt a user for programming inputs, ranging from the type of cooking to be performed, relevant food groups, times, temperatures and the like. In addition to prompting the user for necessary programming information, the cooking appliance can pause the programming sequence to automatically perform preheating or cooling functions for the oven cavity as needed, preferably while displaying a control screen to the user concerning the function being performed.
Following the completion of a cooking operation performed based on the programming input by the user, the user can still provide for additional cooking to satisfy personal preferences. In addition, a favorite cooking sequence can be selectively saved as a recipe to be followed in subsequent cooking operations. Most preferably, the recipes are saved in an alpha format. In addition, pre-stored recipes can be executed as well.
Additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts in the several view.